The Marianne Williamson Presidential Phenomenon Cultural (R)Evolution in a Dangerous Time

"Marianne Williamson reached hundreds of thousands of people with her books, lectures, and workshops since her rise to prominence in the 1990s. Since declaring her bid for the presidency of the US she has reached millions. Not all were eager listeners but many heard her enduring message. Dr. Fisher has made a case study of her "transformational" leadership, arguing (critically at times) that the key to her success was an ability to meet fear fearlessly. Why does her message resonate now in just the way it does? Why is there such tension between those who want to push her away, call her a flake, avoid the obvious and real spiritual implications of our present politics? And how can Williamson balance her other-worldly discipline with her transformational leadership? Dr. Fisher is probably the world's leading expert on the effects of fear and its antidotes, and here he takes an unflinching look at how fear has warped and twisted us, and how we can be transformed by such figures as Williamson. As he indicates, it is very important, at this moment, not only to understand what is happening, but to remember and document for the future what this moment was for those who lived it. Yet, there is more than memory in these pages. This is also about what kind of future we can hope for, in contrast to what we will get if we do not learn to face our fears, and face them down." -Randall Auxier, Ph.D., Author of Time, Will, and Purpose: Living Ideas from the Philosophy of Josiah Royce; Professor of Philosophy and Communication Studies, Southern Illinois University Carbondale